On with the show

The inside of the Bing Concert Hall during the Senior Arts Gala on the Stanford campus April 23, 2014.

The inside of the Bing Concert Hall during the Senior Arts Gala on the Stanford campus April 23, 2014.

Photo: Michael Short, The Chronicle

Photo: Michael Short, The Chronicle

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The inside of the Bing Concert Hall during the Senior Arts Gala on the Stanford campus April 23, 2014.

The inside of the Bing Concert Hall during the Senior Arts Gala on the Stanford campus April 23, 2014.

Photo: Michael Short, The Chronicle

On with the show

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In January 2013, Stanford University opened Bing Concert Hall, the first of three new facilities in the Stanford Arts District. Bing joins Frost Amphitheater and Memorial Auditorium as venues for performing arts, while the forthcoming Anderson Collection and McMurtry Building for Art and Art History will join the existing Cantor Arts Center as venues for visual arts.

Bing Concert Hall

With 842 seats in the round, the acoustics in Bing are so delicate that during a recent master class with opera soprano Deborah Voigt, her accompanist told the class, "Halls like this, which are kind to vowels, are cruel to consonants."

With the opening of Bing, Stanford Live also debuted as a campus presenter, mounting nearly 100 public performances to date, mostly classical, jazz and world music. The department of music and campus theater groups have staged an additional 50 public shows at Bing.